The Osceola times., 1887-06-04
JACKYTIBOY.
His Mischievous Franks and His
Untimely End.

In January, 1886, was staying with
Rev. G. Robinson at his house at Beech
Hill, near Armagh. The north of Ire
land swarms with magpies, and the
conversation naturally turned upon the
BIRDS, s,my host being an ardent ornithol-
ogist. In that part of the country the
abundance of the magpie serves to keep
up the superstitions that have long sur
rounded the bird. There are many
persons of some education, who. il
they were TO meet single magpie
when travelling on important business,
would turn back at once, and not ven-
ture 10 set at defiance SO adverse an
omen. Slightly varied in verbiage, the
old familiar jingle is accepted almost
as a law Of nature:
'One for sorrow. two for mirth,
Three for wedding, four for birth;
Five for fiddle six for dance,
Seven for England, eight for France"
II you suggest that in England.
where IL single magpie is rarely seen,
and three or four together are almost
unheard of, and that we set on very
well in England without troubling our
selves about magpies or any other ON
inous birds, you are met with the reply
that the events will occur, but that the
. magpie has not been able to give warm
ing of them, as in ireland. have met
exactly the same reply when tea
grounds or playing-cards have fur
nishcd the omcns, the human race Of
the present day being specially ia
vored by possessing means of foretell-
ing the future, which were denied to
those who were unfortunate enough to
live before tea and cards had been in
vented.
Armagh is an essentially sporting
country, so that the preservation OF
game is a matter of great importance.
Not even the most enthusiastic orni.
thologist can deny that the magpie Is
very destructive to winged game, max
ing sad havoc among the eggs of phcas.
ants and partridges. As, therefore. the
magpies are so plentiful in Ireland,
constant war is waged against them by
game-keepers. The usual mode Of de-
stroying them is by climbing the trees
in which they have built. and throwing
the eggs or the young to the ground.
1t SO happened that when Mr.. Robin
son was rector of Tartaraghan (pro-
nounced "Tartarrahan," with the ac-
cent on the second syllable), II mag
pies nest had been harried, but one
young bird was rescued by the rector 5
children, who took it home, and made
great pet of it. At first they called
the bird by the simple name of Jack, "
but by degrees converted il into the
more imposing title of "Jackytiboy," "
an appellation which the bird invariably
adopted when announcing his pres
ence.
The magpie is, as a rule, far better
imitator of human speech than the gen.
erality of parrots, whether they come
from the Old or New World. Not q
sound escapes the cognizance of the
magpie, the bird practicing every in
Election, and generally reproducing in
the most unexpected manner the ac-
complishment which it has been prac-
ticing in solitude.
One magpie with which ! was on
familiar terms always used to retire to
the darkest corner of stable, in order
TO rehearse the performance with which
IL meant to astonish the world. II
never produced its new accomplish
ment until it felt itself perfect, therein
setting an admirable example to anna
teur singers and actors. Jackytiboy,
in like manner. had his practieing
place, but it was situated on n branch
of tree. Both birds invariably did
their practicing in a very low tone
Of voice. so as TO be quite inaudible at
little distance.
When he WAS first taken into the
house. tha Children wesS a1Iictsd With
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